AN ANGRY Lord has accused catering bosses at Parliament’s subsidised restaurants of serving up food like “downmarket” high street chains, such as Prezzo and ASK.

A whiny Lord has said the state subsided food is as bad as a chain restaurant [GETTY]

There were two adequate pasta dishes which we ordered but I could have had these in a downmarket establishment

The anonymous Lord

The peer, who has not been named by officials, fired off a complaint in an e-mail to the House of Lords after having dinner with his wife.

He moaned that the menu was “flimsy”, there was no melba toast, no rice pudding and the menu at Christmas did not offer turkey.

His most withering comments about the Barry Room, one of the restaurants in Parliament which taxpayers subsidise to the tune of £7million a year, were dished out after complaining the only thing he and his wife could order, if they did not want meat or £32 sole, were the pasta options.

He wrote: “There were two adequate pasta dishes which we ordered but I could have had these in a downmarket establishment e.g. Prezzo, ASK etc.”

In his complaint about the food in the House of Lord’s private Barry Room restaurant, he suggested the chefs visit the high street chains for some cookery lessons. He said: “I had the mushroom ‘roll’. It was not a good idea. I do suggest the chef is sent to Pizza Express, or ASK, or Prezzo, or Zizzi and Cafe Rouge.

“They serve mushrooms in a creamy sauce on a bread or pizza base 100 times better than the Barry Room fare.

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“With fare like this the place will soon be deserted.” His other complaint, in an e-mail fired off last month, was reserved for the Lord’s Cholmondeley Terrace.

He complained that the buffet sandwiches had no garnish and there was a “poor choice” of cakes.

His moans were one of a series lodged about the dining facilities in the Palace of Westminster, where the cost of food and drink has a 75 per cent subsidy.

Other targets included soggy porridge, vending machines which run out of food, dirty cutlery, a lack of chips, overcooked bacon, cold curry, watery soup, not enough English dishes and rubbery tofu.

Another diner, in a separate complaint who was treating a party of guests to lunch in the Strangers’ Dining Room, said he was “horrified” when told it had run out of certain vintages of wine.

A Prezzo spokesman said: “One wonders where he must eat on a regular basis. Prezzo has 200 restaurants around the UK which are packed out with happy diners, so his view is contrary to thousands of people who enjoy eating in our restaurants every day.”